using the nikon d100, im desperately seeking noise reducing methods pre-production, and im already on the lowest ISO.. heard some murmurings about using different lenses.... wondering how much truth and proof there is behind that. thanks

Faster lenses or lenses with image stabilization will let you use lower iso. Since you are using the lowest iso already buying a new lense will not help you any. You might want to pick up a new camera, a Nikon D40 or D50 would actually give you better noise than your older camera.

The Nikon D2x uses a cmos sensor, the D2h uses a LBCAST sensor and the other Nikons use a CCD sensor made by Sony. It's the same sensor used in Pentax, Minolta and Sony DSLRs.

The D100 is a older camera and its been a few years and Nikon and other camera makers have developed techniques to reduce noise in the newer cameras. The best low noise camera for the Nikon is the D40.

Your question was about techniques for reducing noise pre-capture, but on the software side of the house post-capture you might want to check out a new noise reduction tool called Dfine 2.0.

It has some nifty features like auto camera profiling and good selective tools to apply noise reduction *only* where you need it. Free trial software, some interface shots and video lessons at: http://www.niksoftware.com/dfine

Cheers, Kevin

PS: full disclosure - I work for Nik Software, developers of Dfine 2.0.